

UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION 

WASHINGTON 
. . ■ ■■■ — 


INFORMATION CONCERNING 


The Magnesite Industry 






PRINTED FOR USE OF 

COMMITTEE ON FINANCE 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

. ^ " r \ * 1 



WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
1920 







UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION 


« 


WASHINGTON 


INFORMATION CONCERNING 


The Magnesite Industry 



PRINTED FOR USE OF 

COMAIITTEE ON FINANCE 
UNITED STATES SENATE 



WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
1920 





UNITED STATES TARIFF COMMISSION 


Office, 1322 New York Avenue, Washington, D. C. 


COMMISSIONERS. 

-, Chairman, WILLIAM KENT, 

TIIOMAS WALKER PAGE. Vice Chairman, WILLIAM S. CULBERTSON, 
DAVID J. LEWIS, EDWARD P. COSTIGAN. 

John F. Bethune, Secretary. 

2 


n, of j, 

NOV 19 1 1,21 




COMMITTEE ON FINANCE. 


United States Senate. 


SIXTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION. 
BOIES PENROSE, Pennsylvania, Chairman. 


PORTER J. MCCUMBER, North Dakota. 
REED SMOOT, Utah. 

ROBERT M. LA FOLLE'TTE, Wisconsin. 
WILLIAM P. DILLINGHAM, Vermont. 
GEORGE P. McLEAN, Connecticut. 
CHARLES CURTIS, Kansas. 

JAMES E. WATSON, Indiana. 

WILLIAM M. CALDER, New York. 
HOWARD SUTHERLAND, West Virginia. 


FURNIFOLD M. SIMMONS, North Carolina. 
JOHN SHARP WILLIAMS, Mississippi. 
CHARLES S. THOMAS, Colorado. 

THOMAS P. GORE, Oklahoma. 

ANDRIEUS A. JONES, New Mexico. 

PETER G. GERRY, Rhode Island. 

JOHN F. NUGENT, Idaho. 


Charles P. Swope, Clerk. 

W. B. Stewart, Assistant Clerk. 


3 













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iv.= 




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TABLE OF CONTENTS. 


Letter of transmittal_ 

Introduction_ 

Summary of the domestic situation_ 

Market grades and uses___ 

Substitutes_ 

Tariff classifications_ 

Domestic production: 

Localities of production_ >. _ 

California_ 

Washington_ 

Mining methods_ 

Calcining methods_ 

Industrial development_ 

Domestic consumption_,_ 

Sources of supply_-_ 

Costs of production_ 

Foreign production: 

Countries of largest production._ 

Austria-Hungary_ 

Greece_ 

Canada __ 

Mexico__'_ 

Venezuela_ 

Competitive conditions: 

Dependence on transportation_ 

Quality of product_ 

Foreign exchange._ 

Imports: Countries of origin- 

Prices_ 

Revenue_ 

Tariff history_ 

Summary table-‘- 

Court and Treasury decisions- 

Bibliography-- 

List of producers in 1918 and character of product 


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LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 


United States Tariff Commission, 

Washington , December P, 1919. 

The Committee on Finance of the United States Senate: 

I have the honor to transmit herewith, in accordance with your 
request, information compiled by the United States Tariff Commis¬ 
sion on magnesite, crude and calcined. 

Very respectfully, 

Thomas Walker Page, 

Acting Chairman. 


6 



THE MAGNESITE INDUSTRY. 


I N TRODUCTORY STATEMEN T. 

Magnesite is a natural carbonate of magnesium. When pure it 
contains 52.4 per cent carbon dioxide (C0 2 ) and 47.6 per cent mag¬ 
nesia (magnesium oxide MgO). It is harder and heavier than lime¬ 
stone, which it most nearly resembles. Two markedly different 
natural varieties are distinguished, crystalline and massive. 

The massive is a chalk-white, compact, fine-grained variety usually 
found in veins or masses in serpentine rocks, while the crystalline is 
blue, red, and gray, medium or coarse grained, and occurs only as 
masses in altered limestone. The only important crystalline deposits 
are found in Austria-Hungary (Styria), Quebec, and Washington. 
Massive magnesite is widely distributed. 

Magnesite when calcined forms a highly refractory material which 
has no thoroughly satisfactory substitute in the open-hearth process 
for making steel. About 82 per cent of the domestic consumption 
is used in refractories, 15 per cent in the plastic trade, and the 
remainder is required in minor uses in chemical industries and 
medicines. 

SUMMARY OF THE DOMESTIC SITUATION. 

The United States is the largest consumer of magnesite in the 
world. Its consumption in 1913 was 50 per cent of the total output 
of the world. Before the war, fully 90 per cent of the domestic 
supply was imported. Austria-Hungary furnished the bulk of the 
material required by the steel industry, while Grecian deposits sup¬ 
plied most of the requirements for other purposes. The only do¬ 
mestic production was in California, where it was consumed locally. 

With the outbreak of the war, supplies from Austria were at once 
cut off and, after 1916, those from Greece were greatly curtailed. 
At the same time the domestic requirements increased greatly. In 
1917, the domestic consumption was over 355,000 tons, valued at 
more than $3,700,000. Nearly 90 per cent of the supply was of do¬ 
mestic origin. A great new industry was developed in Washington, 
while the existing industry in California was greatly expanded. Sim¬ 
ilarly fostered by the restriction of ocean shipment, a magnesite in¬ 
dustry sprang up in Quebec which, in spite of the inferior quality of 
the product, was a strong competitor of the western magnesite be¬ 
cause of the relative cheapness of the Canadian product at the eastern 
steel furnaces. 

The chief handicap of the domestic magnesite producer is the long 
railroad haul from the mines to eastern markets, where it is chiefly 
consumed. Domestic reserves are ample, especially in Washington, 
where more than 7,000,000 short tons are indicated or in sight, and 
they have been actively exploited by two or three strong companies 
and several small operators. 

The American magnesite is purer than the Austrian material, which, 
by virtue of its content of the proper amount of iron, is better suited 
by nature for use in the steel industry. The early difficulties en¬ 
countered in the use of domestic material, however, have been satis- 



8 


MAGNESITE INDUSTRY. 


factorily overcome. The lack of the desired amount of iron in Vi ash- 
ington magnesite is made up by adding iron synthetically. 

With the return of normal .shipping conditions, the American mag¬ 
nesite industry faces the prospect of a serious relapse—almost to the 
pre-war level. Recently developed deposits in Venezuela may be 
expected to furnish some material to the eastern markets in com¬ 
petition with that from Greece and Canada, but Austrian magnesite 
will dominate the market if delivered at anything like pre-war prices, 
which were as low at the Atlantic seaboard, practically the point 
of consumption, as quotations of the domestic product on the Pacific 
coast. Under these conditions, the domestic output would be 
restricted to the markets west of the Mississippi where the consump¬ 
tion is comparatively small. The definitive line is dependent upon 
the balance of ocean freight from foreign countries and domestic 
rail tariffs from the Pacific coast, but the advantage lies with the 
foreign producer, due to the concentration of the steel industry in 
Pennsylvania, Illinois, and neighboring localities. 


MARKET GRADES AND USES. 

Magnesite is marketed either (1) crude or (2) calcined. Crude 
magnesite is the material as mined except that it may be sorted or 
undergo a simple cleaning operation to remove admixed rock waste. 
A very small use of the crude material is as a substitute for barite in 
paint manufacture. Some is made into magnesium salts; but prac¬ 
tically all the product is calcined; yielding, according to the tem¬ 
perature, either caustic or dead-burned magnesia. 

(a) Caustic magnesia (moderate temperatures) is magnesite from 
which most of the carbon dioxide is driven off, but from 3 to 8 per cent 
is intentionally left in the residue. In this form the residual mag¬ 
nesia reacts readily with water and carbon dioxide in the air (compare 
quicklime) and readily combines with various acids for the manu¬ 
facture of salts. Mixed with magnesium chloride (which may be 
made from magnesite and muriate acid, but which is generally de¬ 
rived as a by-product in salt manufacture), caustic magnesia is 
made into Sorel (“ oxychloride”) cement. This mixture, generally 
modified bv the addition of various filler materials (wood flour, 
cork, talc, silica, asbestos, clay, marble dust, sand, etc.), together with 
suitable coloring matter is sold under various trade names. It is 
one of the best floorings. The use of magnesite cement in floors and 
as stucco and wall or outside plaster is gaining importance. It sets 
much quicker than Portland cement and has the peculiar advantage 
of great resiliency. As the determining factor in ordinary floors is 
the deflection under load, the large deflections possible with this 
material permit lighter and cheaper building frame construction. 
Calcined magnesia is also used in making magnesium bisulphite for 
disintegrating wood pulp in paper making. 

(b) Dead-burned magnesia (heated to incipient fusion) is mag¬ 
nesite from which the last traces of carbon dioxide have been re¬ 
moved. In this state, it will not slake or combine with chemicals. It 
is largely used for basis open-hearth steel furnaces, converters, and 
kilns for sulphuric acid (pyrites) burning, and in electric furnaces. 
Dead-burned magnesia comes in the form of brick and grains. 


MAGNESITE INDUSTRY. 


9 


Carbon dioxide may be saved, but only when caustic product is to 
be made. The character of the calcination for the production of 
dead-burned magnesite is not suited to the recovery of gas. 

Metallic magnesium, magnesium oxide and salts are rarely made 
from magnesite. In most cases a supply of by-product magnesium 
chloride is more cheaply available and the use of magnesite for 
these purposes is exceptional. Magnesia for chemical and medici¬ 
nal use as well as pipe covering material, light carbonate and other 
products come in this class. 


SUBSTITUTES. 

High magnesian dolomite is a material that has proved to be a 
fairly satisfactory substitute for magnesite in many classes of 
metallurgical work. In 1913, 178,530 tons of calcined magnesite 
were consumed in the United States; in 1917, 177,524. For the large 
increase in steel made in 1917 over 1913 the difference was largely 
made up by use of dolomite. It is much cheaper and far more widely 
distributee! than magnesite, but is not so refractory. Slight changes 
(high lime slags) in furnace processes are often necessary in using 
this material. Locally, serpentine rocks are possible sources of 
magnesium and its compounds, while magnesium salts are by¬ 
products of the common salt and potash-salt industries. Bauxite 
is another basic refractory material, and may take the place of mag¬ 
nesite in certain classes of metallurgical work. Patented products 
consisting of dolomite treated with furnace dust and roasted “ kendy- 
mag,” “ syndolag,” and “ magnibrent ” have come into more or less 
satisfactory use at steel plants. 


TARIFF CLASSIFICATIONS. 

Both caustic and dead-burned magnesite are included as “ cal¬ 
cined ” not purified, and are classed with crude magnesite under 
paragraph 539 on the free list (act of 1913). Magnesite brick (par. 
71) differs from dead-burned magnesite only in having been molded 
into definite forms subsequent to calcination. 

In the chemical schedule (par. 42) “Magnesia: Calcined and car¬ 
bonate of, precipitated,' 5 are listed as dutiable, while conceivably 
these products accord closely in chemical composition with calcined 
and crude magnesite. The intent of the act is clear in that they are 
(generally purer) products produced by chemical processes from 
magnesium salts, especially those from Stassfurt, Germany. 

DOMESTIC PRODUCTION. 

The maximum domestic production of magnesite was in 1917, 
when the total output amounted to 316,838 short tons and was valued 
at $2,899,818 at the mines. The 1918 production was on a somewhat 
reduced scale, due to competition from Canada and a more general 
use of substitutes (notably, burnt dolomite in some of the eastern 
metallurgical plants and even in the paper trade). 

The calcining capacity of the California plants is estimated at 
10,000 tons per month. In Washington, considering one plant alone, 

158374—20-2 


10 


MAGNESITE INDUSTRY. 


there is a calcining capacity of 10,000 tons per month, making the 
present available capacity of the country in excess of 20,000 tons per 
month, or 240,000 tons per year, which is more than ample for our 
present requirements. 1 

The total investment in California and Washington in the mag¬ 
nesite industry is estimated 1 as from $3,500,000 to $4,000,000, with 
the normal employment of 1,000 to 1,500 men in the producing and 
transporting end of the business. In tariff hearings before the Ways 
and Means Committee (July 16 and IT, 1919) a certain witness for 
the American Refractories Co. estimated that this investment has not 
exceeded $500,000. 2 

Magnesite has been produced in the United States since 1891. Prior 
to the outbreak of the European war California was the only pro¬ 
ducing State. The total output, averaging about 10,000 tons, was con¬ 
sumed locally, chiefly in the manufacture of paper. In 1913 and 
1914 a small amount was taken by makers of stucco and Sorel cement, 
especially for use in the buildings of the Panama Pacific Exposition. 

The first magnesite produced in the State of Washington was 715 
tons mined in December, 1916. In 1917 the State yielded 105,000 tons 
and in 1918, 147,528 tons, an output nearly twice as large as that of 
California, 

Production in United States . 1 


[From Mineral Resources, U. S. Geological Survey.] 


Years. 

Quan¬ 

tity 

(short 

tons). 

Value. 

Years. 

Quan¬ 

tity 

(short 

tons). 

Value. 

1900 . 

2,252 
2,850 
9,465 
12,443 
9,375 
10,512 

$19,333 

9,298 
37,860 

1 4,6o8 
75,000 
84,096 

1913 . 

9,632 
11,293 
30,499 
154,974 
316,838 
231,605 

$77,056 
124,223 
274,491 
1,393,693 
2,899,818 
1,812,601 

1904 . 

1914 . 

1909 . 

1915 . 

1910. 

1916 . 

1911. 

1917. 

1912. 

1918. 




i Prior to December, 1916, California was the only producing State. 


LOCALITIES OF PRODUCTION. 

Magnesite occurs in commercial quantities in California, Nevada, 
and Washington. Reports of workable deposits in other States have 
not been verified. 

Domestic production of magnesite\ crude, by States. 


[From Mineral Resources, U. S. Geological Survey.] 


States. 

1916 

1917 

1918 

Quantity 
(short tons) 

Value. 

Quantity 
(short tons) 

Value. 

Quantity 
(short tons) 

Value. 

California. 

Washington. 

Total. . 

154,259 

715 

$1,388,331 
5,362 

211,663 
105,175 

$2,116,630 
783,188 

84,077 
147,528 

$761,811 

1,050,790 

154,974 

1,393,693 

316,838 

2,899,818 231,605 

1,812,601 


1 W. C. Phalen, Min. and Sci. Press, Aug. 30, 1919. 

2 Testimony of lion. James Francis Burke, magnesite hearings, p. 193. 








































































MAGNESITE INDUSTRY. 


11 


( ah forma? Magnesite deposits occur in numerous localities 
throughout the Coast Range and on the west slope of the Sierras, 
from Mendocino and Placer Counties on the north to Riverside 
County on the south. In nine counties the deposits are large, while 
in four counties only small deposits have been found. In 1917, 63 per 
cent of the crude magnesite produced in the State came from Tulare 
County. The rest of the production came from widely separated 
deposits. 

\Y ith one exception (Bissell, Kern County) all the California mag¬ 
nesite deposits occur as irregular veins, lenses, masses, or stock work 
in serpentine rock. In a few places the veins or masses are 20 feet 
or more in width, but more generally the veins are narrow and 
separate lenses are irregularly disposed. 

Washington .-—Deposits of crystalline magnesite have been found 
in several sections in the northeastern part of Washington (Stevens 
County) about 60 miles north of Spokane. The Washington mag¬ 
nesite differs markedly in character from the California material 
and is found in large masses. The larger deposits are 200 or more 
feet thick and 1,000 or more feet long. Estimates of 1,000,000 tons, 
each within 100 feet of the surface, are reasonable for at least three 
of the deposits. 

Most of the Washington magnesite is colored, generally rather 
dark, and its grade must be determined by chemical analysis, as it 
can not be judged by its appearance. 1 2 3 4 It is considered better for 
refractory purposes than the California grade, but the latter is pre¬ 
ferred for building purposes. 


MINING METHODS. 


In California, the greater part of the magnesite occurs in the form 
of veins or lenses of variable length and thickness in massive ser¬ 
pentine. Some of the magnesite masses are as much as 30 feet in 
thickness and from this thickness they range to mere stringers and 
gash veins too thin to work. The magnesite is of the amorphous, 
type. 

Where the veins are thick and steeply dipping, various mining 
methods are employed, depending on the thickness and dip of the 
veins. Glory holes are dug where the masses are very thick, but over¬ 
hand stopping with black filling, is the usual method. 

The mines are usually some distance from the calcining plants, and 
aerial trams are employed to carry the ore to them. An elaborate 
system of gravity planes and chutes is used at the mine of the Tulare 
Mining Co., near Porterville. In this installation empty cars are 
hauled back by horses. 

In Washington, the mineral is crystalline and occurs as massive 
beds in a sedimentary series in which are found dolomite, shale, and 
quartzite into which basic igneous rocks have been intruded. Regular 
quarrying methods are employed in getting out the ore. Tunnels are 
run into the hill at convenient points and raises are put up to the 

1 For further description see Bull. 355, Magnesite Deposits of California, F. L. Hess. 
1918 ; Bull. 540-s, Late Developments of Magnesite Deposits in California, by II. S. Gale ; 
and recent chapters of Mineral Resources, U. S. Geological Survey. 

2 A description of magnesite deposits in Washington was published in the Eng. and 
Min. Jour., Apr. 13, 1918; also in Mineral Resources (1917), U. S. Geological Survey. 

3 Washington “caustic” (burned magnesia) is cream white. 

4 W. C. Phalen, Min. and Sci. Press, Aug. 30, 1919; Can. Min. Jour., Mar. 1, 1918; 
Eng. and Min. Jour., .Tune 28, 1919. 








12 


MAGNESITE INDUSTRY. 


quarry floor. The ore is allowed to flow through such raises into 
small cars that are trammed by hand to the surface. 

In Eastern Canada, Quebec, possesses the only known workable 
deposits of magnesite. The magnesite is coarsely crystalline and 
usually white, though sometimes blueish-gray or yellowish. The de¬ 
posits are composed essentially of the magnesite mineral. Dolomite 
(lime-magnesium carbonate) it the principal accessory mineral, 
being practically always present, sometmes constituting a large pro¬ 
portion of the rock. Serpentine diopside and other minerals are fre¬ 
quently found disseminated, generally in small quantity, through sec¬ 
tions of the deposits. 

Quarrying is carried out by open cast methods, the rock being 
broken down by blasting and sledging to “ one-man size." The quar¬ 
ried material is cobbled to separate it from excessive amounts of 
serpentine and highly dolomitic rock. 

In Austria, the magnesite quarry at Veitsch contains one of the 
largest deposits and is representative of the methods of mining and 
preparing magnesite in Austria and in Hungary. The term u mag¬ 
nesite ” is generally applied to the iron-bearing carbonate of magne¬ 
sium, although Austrian magnesite is sometimes referred to as 
“ bruennerite.” 

At Veitsch the magnesite, which occurs in the form of a lens, is 
quarried on the slope of a hill in a series of terraces about 50 feet 
apart. The entire work extends through a vertical distance of 500 
feet. The huge magnesite lens is nearly three-quarters of a mile 
long and over 1,000 feet in width, and extends to a considerable depth. 
The magnesite occurs as lenticular masses in a belt of carboniferous 
rocks consisting mainly of metamorphosed shales, sandstones, con¬ 
glomerates, and limestone. It is grayish in color when fresh and con- 
tains sufficient ferrous carbonate to blacken it when calcined. The 
material is blasted out of the solid by the ordinary methods of rock 
quarrying. It is next broken in pieces which can be handled readily 
by one man, and the dolomite and quartz are carefully picked out. 
Even in the best sections of the deposits, there is a large quantity 
of this gangue material and estimates of the waste rock vary from 
50 to 66f per cent of all the material quarried. The coarse material 
is cobbed to free it as far as possible from impurities like schist, dolo¬ 
mite, and quartz, and the lumps are sorted. The cleaner portions of 
the magnesite are reduced to pieces about the size of a man’s head. 
Less pure portions have to be broken into pieces about the size of a 
man’s fist. These dressing operations involve a considerable loss of 
magnesite in the form of small fragments—too small to be burned in 
shaft kilns. The raw material thus obtained in the quarries at 
Veitsch is transported by gravity planes to the sintering kilns at the 
foot of the hill. 

CALCINING METHODS. 1 

In the United States calcination is effected in different types of 
kilns: (1) Bottle-shaped kilns; (2) vertical kilns resembling lime¬ 
kilns; and (3) rotary kilns, like those used in the manufacture of 
cement. Distillate or crude oil is the chief fuel in use in California, 
but coke is employed at one plant. The distillate is sprayed with 

1 W. C. Phalen, Min. and Sci. Press, Aug, 30, 1919; Can. Min. Jour., Mar. 1. 1918: 
Eng. and Min. Jour., June 28, 1919. 





MAGNESITE INDUSTRY. 


13 


air or steam nto the four different compartments of the bottle¬ 
shaped kilns and the waste gases serve to heat the crude ore as it 
descends from the intake to the reverberatory chambers, where actual 
calcination takes place. Coke, where used, is mixed directly with 
the crude magnesite and its content of ash, therefore, has to be as 
low as possible. At most plants there is good economy of waste heat 
and action is practically continuous in all the different types of 
kilns. In general it may be said that American practice is com 
parable with foreign practice so far as rotary kilns are concerned. 
The sintering temperatures required for the production of dead 
burned magnesite are practically the same—approximately 2,800° F. 
in Austria, Canada, and the United States. 

Capacity of kilns varies according to the different types. The 
usual practice in the bottle-shaped kilns gives 15 to 20 tons of cal¬ 
cine per 21 hours; in 125-foot rotary kilns, 00 to 75 tons per 21 hours; 
and in the vertical kilns, 7 tons per 21 houTS. In the bottle-shaped 
kilns only coarse lump magnesite can be calcined; the fine can not 
be used for the reason that it obstructs the draft. In rotary kilns 
all sizes may be calcined, fine as well as lump. 

At the plant at the Hemet Magnesite mine, Riverside County, 
Calif., a typical property, hand sorting is done on a 30 inch by 50 foot 
belt conveyer. The rejections from the sorting belt are run directly 
to the waste conveyer, which carries the material to the waste dump. 
The 12-inch conveyer takes the magnesite from the sorting plant to 
a Gilbert washing screen, where it is washed before going to the ore 
bin. The water, after screening the magnesite, is run to a Dorr 
thickener, where the solids are settled out and the clear water is again 
used. From the ore bin at the washer the magnesite is carried to the 
mill by a gravity surface tram. 

From the 300-ton ore bin the ore is fed to a Wheeling crusher, 
set at 1-inch opening. The material after passing the crusher is 
elevated to the feeder supplying the kiln, which is of the rotary type 
6 by 60 feet, making one revolution per minute. It takes the ma¬ 
terial about 45 minutes to pass through the kiln, and at the end of 
the calcination the magnesite is discharged on a steel conveyor, which 
distributes it on the cooling floor. 

From the cooling floor the material is passed over a magnetic 
separator to take out any iron before going to the grinders. .The 
grinding is done in two stages. The coarse grinder is a steel-plate 
mill which takes the 1-inch material and crushes it to about eight 
mesh. The fine crushers used are Sturtevant emery mills, which take 
the material at eight mesh and make 98 per cent pass 100 mesh in 
one operation. From the grinders the material is elevated to the 
bin, which supplies the packing department, where the material is 
all packed in barrels for shipment. The whole plant is operated by 
electric power. 

Calcination yields two products. If the burning is carried to the 
point where 3 to 4 per cent of carbon dioxide is left, the product 
is referred to as “ caustic ” and is consumed principally in the floor¬ 
ing trade. Magnesia in this form is useless as a refractory material, 
because it absorbs moisture and C0 2 gas from the atmosphere and 
shrinks in volume when exposed to furnace temperatures. If burned 
to the point where it contains only one-half of one per cent of carbon 


14 


MAGNESITE INDUSTRY. 


dioxide by weight, it is referred to as dead burned. Approximately 
90 per cent of the total consumption of the United States is of the 
latter kind. 

In Canada and Washington a dead burned or l, ‘‘ ferromagnesite ’ 
is being produced at about 2,800° F., which has much the same 
refractory qualities as the Austrian iron-bearing magnesite. The ore 
is reduced to 10-mesh size by roll crushing, some 20 per cent passing 
through 100 mesh. Mixed with 2 to 5 per cent of its weight of pul¬ 
verized magnetic iron ore, it is calcined in rotary kilns, at a tem- 
erature sufficient to convert all oxide of magnesium present, from the 
amorphous form to the crystalline, the latter being the stable and 
unchanging form of the oxide. * 4 

If the magnesia has practically no other oxides associated with it, 
the heat of the electric furnace (above 2,900° F.) must be used to 
accomplish the conversion. In the presence of other oxides, the 
transformation takes place at temperatures which are practical in 
brick kilns and shaft furnaces (about 2,600° to 2,700° F.). The 
resulting material—■“ ferromagnesite ”■—is the refractory magnesia 
of commerce, and consists, mineralogically, of ferrite of magnesia 
(MgO, Fe 2 0 3 ) cemented and bound by the silicate of magnesia 
(2MgO, Si0 2 ). In this manner, American magnesite, of low iron 
oxide content, is brought into same final form as the* Austrian dead- 
burned magnesia, in which the other oxides occur naturally. The 
average analysis of the dead-burned magnesite produced by one of 
the large American companies during part of 1918 and 1919 is re¬ 
ported to compare with a composite analysis of 21 samples of Aus¬ 
trian dead-burned material, as follows: 



Dead-binned magnesite. 

American. 

Austrian. 

MgO. 

83.04 

3.11 

84.97 

3.10 

.68 

7.96 

2.91 

.38 

CaO. 

Mn20 3 . 


} 7.02 

6. 78 

AI0O3. 

Si0 2 . 

Ig loss. 




A similar comparison of American and Austrian dead-burned mag¬ 
nesite appears in the testimony of the Harbison-Walker Kefrac- 
tories Co. in tariff hearings before the Committee on Ways and 
Means, July 17, 1919: 


Dead-burned magnesite. 


MgO.. 

CaO.. 

Mn203. 

Fe20 3 . 

AI0O3. 

SiO?.. 

Ig. loss 


American. 

Austrian. 

84.00 

86.50 

2.30 

2. 75 

} 7.38 

7.50 

6.40 

2.50 

.50 

.50 








































MAGNESITE INDUSTRY. 


15 


In Austria, at the Yeitsch sintering plant, continuous kilns of the 
bottle variety are used and producer gas is employed as fuel. Within 
the last few years a few plants have installed rotary kilns of the 
cement type, to burn magnesite, powdered coal being used as fuel. 
The magnesite can be burned as thoroughly in these kilns as in the 
bottle kilns, but they have one disadvantage, in that a larger per cent 
of fines is produced. The magnesite as burned in the bottle kilns is 
drawn every six hours. 

The sintering temperature varies from 1,500° C. (2,732° F.) for 
bruenerite (Austrian magnesite) containing considerable iron oxide, 
to 1,700° C. (3,092° F.) for material poor in oxide. However easily 
the material sinters, it appears desirable to carry the temperature 
up to at least 1,500° C., but this temperature seems to be exceeded, 
as a rule, in the shaft kilns in Styria, 

The magnesite, after being drawn from the kilns, is quenched with 
water and crushed to walnut size or less. It is then classified me¬ 
chanically by screening or sizing into three different sizes. Much 
of the caustic lime or calcined dolomite is removed in the first screen¬ 
ing owing to its finely divided condition. From the screens it goes 
to the picking tables, where the unburned magnesite, together with 
the dolomite and quartz, present in particles too small to have been 
removed at the quarries, are picked out. The magnesite in the 
larger sizes is again crushed and the smaller pieces repicked. The 
magnesite is finally crushed to the size of kernels of corn, picked 
over again, and sacked for the trade in packages of 150 to 200 
pounds each. 

In recent years magnetic separators have been introduced which 
have resulted in an economy in the picking or sorting operation. 
If not magnetically treated, the finely divided material would neces¬ 
sarily contain particles of schist, quartz, or other nonmagnetic miner¬ 
als. It must be said, however, that the magnetic treatment involves 
some waste since only magnesite containing iron is removable by this 
treatment. It adds to the expense and is presumably employed only 
when it is necessary to obtain a concentrated, uniform, and most 
highly satisfactory product. 

INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT. 

At the outbreak of the war the California industry was established 
quite firmly on the basis of medium-scale production and simple 
marketing systems, largely contractual. Since the freight rate on 
calcined magnesite is the same as that on crude and the product 
weighs only about one-half a& much, practically all the ore was cal¬ 
cined at the mine. Various types of kilns were in operation. Most 
of them were of the vertical type, similar to those used for making 
quicklime—inexpensive to build, but rather wasteful of fuel. Crude 
oil was used at many plants, but in the more isolated sections, wood 
was cheaper. The character of the California deposits was such that 
extensive installation of equipment was not warranted. Single mines 
rarely remained in steady operation for any great length of time 
and no very large reserves were proved in advance of mining. At 
the end of i913 there was only one producing company; in the whole 
year onl ythree companies had operated. Early in 1914, however, 
several old mines, were reopened and a few new producers came in. 
The only large producer at any time before the war was the Tulare 


1G 


MAGNESITE INDUSTRY. 


Minirig Co., and almost its entire product was contracted for by the 
Crown Willamette Paper Co. Only a few hundred tons surplus 
came on the open market. This was sold to grinders in San Fran¬ 
cisco, who retailed it to consumers. The more or less sporadic out¬ 
put of the smaller organizations—none of whom could have guaran¬ 
teed an output of 500 tons a month—came on the market almost 
wholly in granular form (“caustic”) and in bulk. 

War stimulation of the industry came in the latter part of 1914. 
It affected the larger properties first, but soon there was a rapid 
development of new producers. Mines 20 miles from railroads, 
that had never been commercially considered, were opened up and 
contributed to the output. One producer installed one and later 
another large rotary kiln similar to those employed for cement burn¬ 
ing and improved its equipment generally. Broadly speaking, how¬ 
ever, the California industry responded to the increased demand for 
its product by multiplying the number of producers—16 of whom re¬ 
ported production in 1915 1 —rather than by greatly expanding indi¬ 
vidual operations. In 1918, however, a discouraging and unexpected 
change took place when the demand for the mineral suddenly ceased; 
many mines closed indefinitely and others were compelled to reduce 
their output from one-third to one-half. 

In Washington the somewhat greater inaccessibility of the deposits 
and their much greater indicated extent offered more attractions to 

o # 

large capital than to individual operations. The largest producer in 
the field is the Northwest Magnesite Co., which claims to have ex¬ 
pended about $1,000,000 on equipment and development work. 

• Four companies took part in the development of the Washington 
industry. Extraordinary progress was made in the first two years of 
operation. A large part of the work done by these companies was 
purely development. The deposits are several miles from a railroad 
and the early operations involved hauling by wagon and motortruck. 
A year after opening their major deposits the largest producer com¬ 
pleted a 5-mile aerial tram from the quarry to its new calcining 
plant, where three rotary cement kilns, 125 feet long by 74 feet 
diameter, are installed. Both quarrying and calcining operations are 
equipped with modern machinery and labor-saving devices. The 
management is evidently enterprising. The latest development is 
the addition of iron ore, at the calcining plant, in correct proportions 
for the production of “ ferromagnesite ” of similar composition to 
the Austrian material. It is claimed to be quite as satisfactory as 
the Austrian product for refractory purposes. 

DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION. 

The consumption of magnesite shows a marked increase, and there 
is promise of a still further development in the next few years. In 
1917 the apparent consumption, expressed as crude, was over 355,000 
short tons, or about 25 per cent more than the consumption just be¬ 
fore the war. The United States is the largest consumer of magne¬ 
site, and in 1913 its requirements amounted to over 65 per cent of the 
total world consumption, if 500,000 tons is considered as the world 


1 Sixty-five in 1917. 







MAGNESITE INDUSTRY. 


17 


output for 1913. This quantity includes only exports from Austria- 
Hungary, and it is presumed that Germany, the second largest steel 
producer, must have used 150,000 to 200,000 tons of magnesite, and 
that the world’s output was nearer 700,000 tons. If this is true the 
United States used about 50 per cent of the world’s production of 
magnesite. 

A recent estimate of the character of the consumption is that 82 
per cent is used as refractory, 15 per cent in the plastic trade, and 3 
per cent for chemical and medicinal purposes. The open-hearth 
steel industry is the most important factor in the magnesite situation. 
While this industry is not wholly dependent on magnesite supplies, 
it. is largely so. The partial substitution of dolomite, however, has 
come to stay and the amount of magnesite consumed per ton of 
basic open-hearth steel, which formerly was 6 to 14 pounds (dead 
burned), has lately been cut almost in half. The total amount used 
by the steel industry has not decreased on account of the much greater 
output of basic open-hearth steel. The use of magnesite in building 
trades has also increased to a marked extent. 


SOURCES OF DOMESTIC SUPPLY. 

Over 90 per cent of the domestic supply of magnesite before the 
war was imported. The preponderant supply—and practically all 
that used in steel manufacture--was derived from Austria-Hun¬ 
gary. Xo other foreign sources of large supply of a satisfactory 
quality of material existed. The Grecian deposits furnished only 
“ caustic ” for use in plastic trades and in the manufacture of chem¬ 
icals and heat-insulating material. 

In 1917, however, the proportions were reversed and over 90 per 
cent of the domestic supply came from American deposits. The 
tendency in 1918, however, was toward largely increased importa¬ 
tions of Canadian material. If there had been no restrictions on 
jcean shipments of this material (in the interest of ship saving), 
there would also have been large importations from Venezuela. 


COSTS OF PRODUCTION. 

In former years the bulk of shipments from California have 
been crude, but now there are a number of up-to-date calcining 
plants in California that are sending finished product to the eastern 
market. The Tariff Commission has made net independent investiga¬ 
tion of production costs in the magnesite industry. Sworn state¬ 
ments of five of the largest companies operating in 1919 have been 
filed with the commission, showing an average cost of production of 
$25.37 per ton (calcined magnesite) at shipping point. In three of 
the-e reports the direct labor cost is indicated, averaging 50 per cent 
of the total. The Department of Commerce, in a cablegram from the 
American consul general at Vienna, has recently received figures on 
Austrian costs of producing magnesite, indicating that of a total cost 
f. o. b. Trieste of $12.80, $2.89 (or 23 per cent) is cost of labor. The 
Tariff Commission has had no opportunity to verify these figures and 
does net know frem what source or with what accuracy the cost data 
have been assembled. One of the fa tors not itemized is transporta¬ 
tion cost from the mines to Trieste. 


18 


MAGNESITE INDUSTRY. 


The present transcontinental freight rate in the United States is 
the same for crude as for calcined material . 1 

FOREIGN PRODUCTION. 

Developed magnesia deposits outside of the United States that 
have been productive are located in Quebec and British Columbia 
(Canada); Santa Margarita Island, Lower California; Venezuela, 
Austria-Hungary, Greece, Norway, Spain, Germany, Russia, Mace¬ 
donia, Transvaal, and India. Deposits, some of which have pro¬ 
duced small amounts, are located in Ontario and New Brunswick, 
Canada; Cedros Island, Lower California; Asia Minor, Sweden, 
Rhodesia, Portuguese West Africa, Australia, China, Japan, Tas¬ 
mania, and New Caledonia. The largest foreign producer has been 
Austria-Hungary, with Greece second. The production of other 
countries was of minor importance until the war resulted in cutting 
off the Austrian supplies from all but the Central Powers. The cut- 
ing off of these supplies caused stimulation chiefly in the North 
American output. There is little reason to expect that there will be 
any marked shift in the important sources of supply, although the 
relative importance of the major producers may undergo consid¬ 
erable readjustment. 


Magnesite reserves of the world. 

[Communication from Mineral Resources Division, U. S. Geological Survey.] 


Short tons. 

Austria-Hungary_ 120, 000, 000 

Greece___,- 5, 500, 000 

Washington__ 7, 000, 000 

California_ 750, 000 

Venezuela (Margarita Island)_ 2 3, 200, 000 


The indicated reserves of the two American producing States are 
included for comparison. The reserves in other countries have not 
been measured, and no even approximately accurate estimate can be 
made as to the total resources of the world. 

COUNTRIES OF LARGEST PRODUCTION. 3 
% 

The foreign countries thatawiter into the American magnesia situa¬ 
tion are Canada, Austria-Hungary, Greece, Mexico, and Venezuela. 
Small exports have been made from countries other than those 
named, notably Norway (via Scotland), but they are not of sufficient 
importance to warrant discussion with reference to the United 
States. 


1 Rates, June 25, 1918, were $15.60 plus 47 cents per short ton Spokane to Atlantic 
points; $13.80 plus 41 cents to Pittsburgh. Some decrease in transportation expense 
may eventually result from Panama Canal service, hut the haul from mines to Pacific 
ports, handling at docks, and freight from Atlantic seaboard to consuming center (Pitts¬ 
burgh) will reduce the freight differential via canal. 

2 Caracristi, Charles F. Z., Eng. and Min. .Tour., 107 (1919), p. 131. 

3 Data in regard to the deposits and the industry in the several countries are available 
in the auxiliary file of the Tariff Commission and in “ Political and Commercial Control,” 
Bull. 3, U. S. Bureau of Mines, by R. W. Stone. 












MAGNESITE INDUSTRY. 


19 


Estimated ivoi'ld production. 


[Frnn vfineral Resources of the United States, Geological Survey, 1918.] 


Countries. 

1913 

1917 

Australia. 

Short tons. 

94Q 

440,920 
515 
106,482 
17,637 
661 
992 
661 
8,818 
9,634 
5,512 

Short tons. 
9,370 
( 2 ) 

58,090 
159,834 
19,445 

Austria-Hungarv 1 . 

Canada 3 . 

Greece. 

India. 

Italy. 

Spain. 

1,653 

860 

( 2 ) 

316, 801 
5,511 

Transvaal. 

Turkey. 

United States. 

Mexico, Norway, Russia. 

Tctal. 

592,075 

571,565 



1 Exports. 

2 No data available. 

3 Shipments. From Mineral Production of Canada, Canada Pepartment of Mines. 


Austria-Hungary .—The magnesite deposits of Austria-Hungary 
follow a belt that extends in a northeast line across the two countries. 
The workable deposits are in the form of lenses. Only 10 or 12 of 
these lenses are of sufficient size to be worked, but several of these are 
of large size. The largest deposit in the group is near the town of 
Veitch. It has been worked longer than any of the others and a huge 
quarry is located there. The-magnesite forms an isolated lens in a 
high hill surrounded by barren rock. From the top to the bottom of 
the workings is 700 to 800 feet. The quarry face is carried in benches 
about 50 feet high. Another large deposit in Austria is at Radentheim 
on the north side of the Millstatter Alps, where the material is quar¬ 
ried by great cuts and lowered by gravity to rotary kilns. This de¬ 
posit was owned by an American company and much of the output 
came to United States ports. Both grain magnesite and magnesite 
brick were produced very near the mine. Another American com¬ 
pany operated in Austria-Hungary before the war, but both prop¬ 
erties were taken over by the Government and operated, at least for 
a time, by Russian prisoners. Two of the larger local companies sold 
all their export product through a German firm. 

Because of the huge size of the Austrian and Hungarian deposits, 
and their comparative accessibility and low wages, the product can 
be marketed cheaper than any other known supplies. Even the best 
deposits in these countries contain a large quantity of dolomite and 
quartz gangue that must be sorted out by hand. But the extraordi¬ 
nary opportunity for cheap mining and the ease with which it may 
be calcined to a dead-burned state give these deposits a remarkable 
advantage over those of any other part of the world. 

American capital is invested in the Austrian industry. 

Greece .—Grecian magnesite is of the noncrystalline or amorphous 
type like that of California. The most important deposits are those 
of the island of Euboea, where they are all found close to the sea¬ 
shore. Cheap water transportation to all the principal consuming 
markets is available (under normal conditions). The largest veins 
are 50 feet or more wide and several hundred feet long. 1 They are 
mined by open cuts, and a very pure product is obtained by cobbing. 


1 Veins of this size not common, however. 































20 


MAGNESITE INDUSTRY. 


In 1911 the production was mainly in the hands of three companies,, 
and practically all the product is distributed through one of them—a 
British company. Less than 2 per cent of the ore is dead-burned on 
the island, and only about one-third of it is calcined before shipment. 
Before the war much of the crude material was shipped to northern 
Germany or Holland, where it was calcined and, in part, ground and 
packed for reexport, as prepared u caustic ” for making Sorel cement. 
There has been some criticism of the Grecian caustic as delivered in 
the United States on account of its lack of uniformity. There is no 
reason why it should not keep practically indefinitely when properly 
packed. Magnesite from Greece and California are practically iden¬ 
tical. but previous to 1915 the California material could not compete 
with the Grecian ore, much of which came in as ballast, because of 
high transcontinental freight. 

Canadal —The only important magnesite-producing district in 
Canada is Grenville, Quebec. Many other occurrences are reported. 
There are deposits of considerable extent in various parts of British 
Columbia, but on account of the cost of transportation are not work¬ 
able at the present time. 

The magnesite in the Quebec deposits is mixed with dolomite and 
serpentine, and the product invariably is high in lime. However,, 
they have an advantage over the American deposits on account of 
their location close to centers of consumption, and increasing 
amounts are imported into the United States at Lake ports and along 
the St. Lawrence. The Quebec quarry deposits are also cheaper to 
mine than those of California. The Canadian geological survey 
reported in March, 1917, that the cost of Grenville magnesite laid 
down in the principal markets was from one-half to two-thirds that 
of the California product (presumably referring to crude). This 
advantage was expected to be further improved by construction of 
tramways from the deposits to the railroad. Canadian material can 
not be used for the manufacture of the best magnesite brick. Mate¬ 
rial for brickmaking must be rigidly limited as to lime content (6 
per cent) and silicon (7 per cent). The Canadian material is suit¬ 
able, in the main, only for gram manufacture (furnace bottoms). 

Mexico .—On the island of Santa Margarita, in Magdalena Bay, 
there are extensive deposits from which exports have been made to 
the United States. It is a mountainous island cut up by canyons in 
which massive magnesite several feet thick is exposed. Bowlders of 
the material strew the stream beds. Hundreds of thousands of tons 
are said to he in sight, and large quantities can be obtained with 
no expense for mining, requiring only to be broken up for shipment. 
Some of this material was being calcined in California in 1917, but 
the boat that carried it was diverted to other uses by the United 
States Government. The material is exceptionally pure, and the 
operations were conducted by Americans. 

Venezuela .—Large deposits of the massive or California type are 
found on Margarita Island, off the coast of Venezuela. In 1915, 
500 tons were exported to the United States. During most of the 
year the United States Shipping Board refused to grant a license 
for further shipments. Mines are developed sufficiently to produce 
2,000 tons monthly of very high-grade material. During 1917 the 


1 Canadian deposits are fully described by Wilson: Magnesite Deposits of the Grenville- 
District Department of Mines, Memoir 98. 




MAGNESITE INDUSTRY. 


21 


output was about 10 tons a day and brought an average of $2 
of which $19.50 was paid for freight. The properties are o 


by residents of California. 


Jo a ton, 
operated 


CO MPETtriVK CONDITION8. 

DEPENDENCE ON- TRANSPORTATION. 

The important feature of the magnesite industry is its dependence 
on cheap transportation for the successful exploitation of its 
product. Carbonic-acid gas bottlers were forced to resort to lime¬ 
stone in place of magnesite in California, largely because freight 
from mine to quarry to manufacturing plant more than offset the 
advantages of the richer (in gas) material. For this reason ship¬ 
ments of crude are restricted to very short hauls. Crude has, in 
fact, almost wholly disappeared from the city markets. The sudden 
increase in production in 1915 resulted in some resumption of ship¬ 
ments of crude magnesite from the mines, but these ceased as soon as 
kilns could be constructed at the new mines. 

The freight rates by rail from San Francisco to Chicago just be¬ 
fore the war were $10 a ton; to Illinois and Ohio points, $11; and to 
Pittsburgh and beyond, $12. The average price of domestic crude 
in the San Francisco market was about $8 a ton. The average im¬ 
port valuation of Grecian magnesite (which was more strictly com¬ 
petitive with the California product then the Austrian) was $7 to 
$8 per ton on board steamer in New York. Under free competition 
the definite line of equal price was invariably west of the Mississippi 
River. Since the largest markets are in the Eastern States the 
domestic output was restricted to the rather limited local market 
in California on a purely cost basis. Calcined (not ground) Euboean 
(Grecian) magnesite was usually sold in New York cheaper than 
was similar material at the mines in California. The competitive 
status of Austrian supplies was also dependent on the freight, since 
the dead-burned product in New York was even cheaper than 
Grecian “ caustic." 

A freight rate of $4 a ton from San Francisco to points on the 
Atlantic seaboard through the Panama Canal was quoted when the 
canal was first opened but was later increased to $7 as the scarcity 
of bottoms became apparent. Eastbound magnesite, however, vcas 
never sought by carriers. 

When the supplies of Austrian magnesite were finally cut off the 
California producers became a factor in the eastern market and for 
a time were practically free from outside competition. Later, Iioav- 
ever, Canadian deposits were developed, and although the material 
contained much more lime than the domestic product and was con¬ 
sequently less desirable for open-hearth steel production, it was so 
much cheaper because of the relatively short haul that it became an 
important rival of the Pacific Coast product. Washington deposits 
were discovered and opened up in 1916, and largely supplied the 
market for refractory material in 1917 and 1918. 


QUALITY OF PRODUCT. 


While the chief handicap to the domestic producers is their dis¬ 
tance from the points of consumption, the extreme purity of the 


22 


MAGNESITE INDUSTRY. 


product also had an important bearing on the situation. It is com¬ 
monly assumed that the most refractory magnesite is the dead- 
burned calcined form (either as brick or in grains) containing little 
or no lime, silica, iron oxide, or alumina. Lime has a tendency to 
cause disintegration and also in steelwork may “ become rotten, 1 ’ 
due to absorption of phosphorus that should have gone only into 
the slag. All the other impurities have a tendency to lower the 
melting point. On the other hand, there is a decided preference 
among refractory users for the magnesites that carry a certain per¬ 
centage of iron as do the Austrian and Hungarian products. While 
the small amount of iron present does lower the melting point 
slightly, brick and other calcined products made from it are more 
satisfactorily burned and hold their shape better when exposed to 
high temperature. The shrinkage is less, and less heat is required 
for satisfactory calcination than is the case with the purer American 
material. In order to meet this condition, at least one of the Ameri¬ 
can producers has installed mixing devices for adding iron to its 
product prior to calcination . 1 

Five analyses of Austrian crude magnesite show : 2 


Per cent. 

Magnesia (MgO)_ 85.53-90.07 

Lime (CaO)_^_ .96- 3. 52 

Iron oxide (Fe 2 0 3 )_1_ 7.43- 9.96 

Alumina (A1 2 0 3 )_ 2.22 

Manganese oxide (MnA)_ .51- .76 

Silica (SiO a )_ . 26- 1. 34 


California and Washington magnesite has much the same analysis 
as the Austrian material shown above, with a tendency to run lower 
in iron and higher in silica. In certain deposits the American ma¬ 
terial very closely approximates the Austrian. 

Another feature that may be mentioned under this head is the 
preparation of the material. Even before the war, Grecian magnesite 
was sold in California in competition with the domestic product for 
the plastic trade and at a higher price. Discounting the prejudice 
or established custom of calling for “ Grecian ” magnesite in speci¬ 
fications, the greater diversity of forms and packages in which the 
imported product was available and the fact that it could be bought 
in small lots was a strong factor in its continued sale. The domestic 
producers invariably sold only in carload lots. Very little of their 
product was marketed in the ground condition ready for use. On 
the other hand, the imported material was ground, of uniform grade, 
and packed in paper-lined barrels. 


FOKEIGN EXCHANGE. 

Another influence probably affecting the relative competitive posi¬ 
tions of American and foreign producers is the present low rate of 
foreign exchange. Comparatively one-sided trade relations have 
existed during the last five years between the United States and 
foreign countries, and the virtual abandonment of the gold stand- 

1 Two California deposits contain enough iron so that magnesite brick are made without 
the addition of that material. It is claimed that eventually this purer American material 
will be regarded as a more satisfactory refractory than the' Austrian product. 

s F.-Cornu. Zeit. T. Prakt., Geol., 1908'. 













c 


MAGNESITE INDUSTRY. 


23 


ard in various European countries lias resulted in the depreciation 
of their currencies. The competitive strength of Austrian magnesite 
is subject to whatever uncertainties attend the present exchange rates 
on the Austrian krone. The Tariff Commission is endeavoring to 
ascertain both the effects of any divergencies between foreign and 
domestic depreciations of currency and the effects of exchange rates 
due to the balance of trade on the competitive position of the foreign 
commodity in the American market. 


1M PORTS. 


COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN. 

1 he Department of Commerce publishes the countries of origin 
for importations of calcined but not of crude magnesite. In general, 
it may be said that Greece furnished a larger proportion of raw 
magnesite before the war than did Austria-Hungary. Raw mag¬ 
nesite has also been imported quite steadily from Canada in late 
years. The irregular imports from Mexico and Venezuela have been 
mentioned above, as has also the character of the importations from 
the various countries. 

Most of the pre-war importation of calcined magnesite from Neth¬ 
erlands, Belgium, Germany, and even the United Kingdom consisted 
of re-exported Grecian “ caustic,” generally after calcining and re¬ 
packing in those countries. Part of the imports from Great Britain 
(Scotland) was of Norwegian origin. 

Imports by countries, magnesite, calcined, not purified. 


[Fiscal years ending June 30.] 


Imported from— 

1911 

1912 

1913 

Pounds. 

Value. 

Pounds. 

Value. 

Pounds. 

Value. 

Austria-Hungary. 

Germany. 

Netherlands. 

Retpinm . 

286,784,390 
2,851,0'0 
5,948,054 
65,230 

$1,28^,298 
18,474 
59,608 
667 

198,208,783 
1,378,678 
4,819,284 
51,211 
227,276 
325,760 
123,192 
467,920 
276,880 

.$916,550 
16,600 
52,806 
530 
1,173 
1,893 
1,062 
2,863 
986 

327,430,519 

4,8^3,513 

9,015,619 

$1,564,234 
40,833 
100,175 

Greece.... . 

3,208,176 

17,462 

Nnrwav . 

242,716 
5,560 
591,940 
55,777 

1,648 

36 

1,726 

533 

United Kingdom. 

Canada. 

A 11 other 

2, 789 
700,630 

47 

5,097 

Total. 



296,544,687 

1,364,990 

205,878,984 

994,463 

345,181,246 

1,727,848 


Imported from— 

1914 

1915 

1916 

Pounds. 

Value. 

Pounds. 

Value 

Pounds. 

Value. 


268,520,275 
5,156,102 
8,380,349 
22,310 
6,464,400 

$1,298,136 
42,146 
107,261 
289 
20,070 

104,171,512 
1,444,691 
7,108,042 

$523,905 

16,417 

101,513 



Germany. 

Netherlands. 

24,802 
3,899,359 

$365 
59,155 

Greece. 

"M nrwfl v 

8,873,777 

47,511 

22,875,795 
44,840 
698,100 
4,879,714 

136,701 
611 
31,553 
54,383 

United Kingdom. 

Canada. 

All other. 

Total. 

26,508 
808,650 
115,722 

654 
3,3Q0 
1,351 

560,563 
1,895,424 
2,641,421 

16,381 

14,065 

25,590 

289,494,316 

1,473,207 

126,695,430 

745,382 

32,372,610 

282,768 


















































































24 


MAGNESITE INDUSTRY. 


Imports by countries, magnesite, calcined, not purified —Continued. 


Imported from— 

1917 

1918 

1919 

Pounds. 

Value. 

Pounds. 

Value. 

Pounds. 

Value. 

Austria-Hungary_ . 





107,520 

$664 

Greece 

3,584,000 

$-8,032 



N orway 

22,046 
1,864,794 
21,608,707 
4,242 

$482 

105,507 

443,538 

'200 



United Kingdom. 

1,568,424 

4,296,393 

86,224 
67,781 

9 5,12 0 
39,401,280 

53,480 

535,310 

Canada. 

All other 

Total. 





9,448,817 

182,037 

23,499,789 

549,727 

40,433,920 

589,454 



Imports for consumption, magnesite, calcined, not purified. 


Fiscal years. 

Rates of 
duty. 

Pounds. 

Values. 

Value per 
unit of 
quantity. 

1907. 

Free. 

143,891,572 
146,860, 775 
186,961,370 
225,895.904 
296,225,507 
204,997, 478 
345, 322,155 
288,989,577 
125,893, 407 
32,372, 610 
9, 448, 817 
22, 764,029 
27, 009, 920 

$698, 715.45 
706,088 00 
871, 383 80 
1,026,982.00 
1,362,120.00 
990,241.00 
1,731,443 00 
1,485,27300 
751,766 00 
282,768 00 
182,037 00 
535,202 00 
532,020.00 

$0.005 
.004 
.005 
.005 
.005 
.005 
.005 
.005 
.006 
.009 
.019 
.024 
.020 

1908. 

.. .do. 

1909. 

.. .do. 

1910. 

.. .do. 

1911. 

.. .do. 

1912. 

.. .do. 

1913. 

.. .do. 

1914. 

.. .do. 

1915. 

.. .do. 

1916. 

.. .do. 

1917. 

.. .do. 

1918. 

.. .do. 

1919. 

.. do. 




PRICES. 


The price statistics for magnesite are somewhat complicated because 
of the variety of grades and methods of packing. Except for Aus¬ 
trian dead-burned material, the different products have not been well 
standardized and statistics for successive years are not comparative. 
Magnesite “ raw " and “ calcined " are the only two classes quoted 
in trade journals with any degree of regularity. But these quota¬ 
tions are nominal and rarely reflect even major fluctuations. 

Before the war the lowest prices for dead-burned Austrian mag¬ 
nesite were $15.72 f. o. b. docks at Philadelphia, $15.60 f. o. b. New 
York, and $15.20 f. o. b. New Orleans. These figures represent the 
practical minimum prices that had been reached in 15 years, in 
rough figures the average price of calcined magnesite along the At¬ 
lantic seaboard was $16.25 per net ton. An approximately average 
freight rate from Atlantic points to Chicago was $2.40 a ton, yet the 
lowest f. o. b. Chicago price quoted for the material in 1914 was $26 
per short ton. 

The minimum pre-war price of raw magnesite was $8 per net ton 
on the Atlantic seaboard, and was usually quoted higher. Material 
(Grecian) calcined for medicinal and other uses ranged from $20 to 
$25 per ton, according to its purity and the care that had been exer¬ 
cised in sorting. Fine ground calcined brought up to $35 and $10. 
Little information can be gained by a study of the import valua¬ 
tions, except that they bear out the fact that shipments from Europe, 
except from the producing countries, are of material especially ground 
and packed. Magnesite from the United Kingdom has the highest 
valuation ($49.40 per ton in 1914), while the Austrian material was 













































































MAGNESITE INDUSTRY. 


25 


valued at $9 to $10 and the Grecian imports were generally valued 
at slightly over $10. 

The proportion of magnesite imported raw showed a gradual fall¬ 
ing off from more than one-half the weight of the magnesite imported 
as calcined in 1902 (the first year for which separate statistics are 
published) to about one-twelfth the weight of calcines imported in 
the years immediately preceding the war—a natural result of es¬ 
tablished routes and the tendency to ship in the lightest possible 
form. The amount of calcined magnesite imported in 1914 was nearly 
150,000 tons, valued at $1,500,000, or more than five times the quan¬ 
tity imported in 1904. On the other hand, the 11,000 tons of raw 
magnesite imported in that year was an actual reduction from the 
annual importation a decade before. 

When the war first cut off the importation of Austrian calcines, a 
much larger proportion of raw material was imported, since no other 
country had sufficient calcining facilities immediately to take care of 
the sudden demand. Even some of the Grecian magnesite that or¬ 
dinarily would have been calcined in Europe en route was shipped 
direct and the imports of raw magnesite from that country greatly 
increased, as also did those from Canada later. In 1917 the importa¬ 
tion of crude magnesite was the largest on record, both as regards 
quantity and value, amounting to nearly 90,000 tons, valued at $750,- 
000, or nearly nine times the amount and 16 times the value of 
the 1914 imports. In that fiscal year the imports of calcine reached 
their minimum—less than 5,000 tons, valued at only $182,000, or less 
than one-thirtieth of the amount and about one-eiirhth the value of 

o 

the 1914 imports. In 1918 the import restrictions of the United 
States Shipping Board cut down the amount of crude magnesite 
imported to one-tenth that imported in the previous year. Increased 
rail and lake boat shipments from Canada, which had meanwhile 
increased its calcining capacity to keep up with the sudden increase 
in its mine output, resulted in more than doubling the importation of 
calcined material. 

revenue. 

Since magnesite has always been on the free list, the Government has 
never gained any revenue from its importation. The imports for 
consumption since 1907 are as follows: 


Imports for consumption, magnesite, crude. 


Fiscal years. 

Rates of 
duty. 

Quantities. 

(pounds). 

Values. 

Value 
per unit of 
quardty. 


Free. 

Pounds. 

44,648, 557 

SI 56.722.00 

SO. 004 



42,722,846 

141,992.00 

.003 



20, 725,355 

39,5.58. 00 

.002 



34,175,514 

108,623. 25 

.003 



37,951,190 

127,344.00 

.003 


. do..-. 

29, 415,095 

88,482.00 

-003 



33,654, 260 

111,276.00 

46,611.00 

.003 


. do.... 

21.590,605 

.002 


. do.... 

37,463, 509 

80,625. 00 

.002 



101,591,459 

281,620-00 

.003 



179,292,638 

748,951.00 

.004 


. do.... 

18,532,767 

104,947.00 

.006 

1Q1Q1 . 

. do.... 

4,424,000 

57,434.00 

.013 





— 


1 These figures appear high. Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce is investigating accuracy 
(November, 1919). 








































26 


MAGNESITE INDUSTRY. 


The only quotations for the domestic product before the war were 
in California. In general they did not differ greatly from the quo¬ 
tations for imported magnesite in the East. In the early years of the 
war, San Francisco became the dominant market. Quotations rose 
from $22 to $25 per ton for crude calcines in sacks and $40 to $55 
for the ground product in paper-lined barrels. 

New York market quotations in June, 1919, for the domestic prod¬ 
uct were $30 to $35 per ton for crude and $50 to $60 per ton for 
calcined. There was no European magnesite on the market at that 
time. 

Several cargoes of Austrian calcined magnesite arrived in this 
country during August, September, and October, 1919—2,044 short 
tons in all, with average import valuation of $23.73. 


Prices of magnesite, 1913 { wholesale, per short ton). 
New York market: 

Grecian, Euboean, calcined, “caustic,” tine ground (in paper- 


lined barrels)_$25. 00-$35. 00 

Grecian, Euboean, calcined, “caustic,” not ground (in sacks) 17.50- 20.00 

Grecian, Euboean, crude (bulk)_ 7.00- S. 00 

Austrian, calcined, dead burned, crushed or fine ground 

(bulk) ___ 16.15-16.25 

Pacific coast markets (San Francisco or Los Angeles) : 

Domestic, calcined, “ caustic,” fine ground (in paper-lined 

barrels)__ 30.00- 35.00 

Domestic, calcined, not ground, dead burned (in sacks)_ 20.00- 25.00 

Norwegian, calcined, dead burned, crushed or fine ground_ 22. 50 


TARIFF HISTORY. 


Magnesite, both crude and calcined, has been free since 1883. The 
tariff history may be tabulated as follows: 


Act of— 

Para¬ 

graph. 

Tariff classification or description. 

Rates of 
duty, 
specific 
and ad 
valorem. 

1883. 

620 

Magnesite, or native mineral carbonate of magnesia. 

Frpp 

1890. 

640 

.do.'.. 

Do 

1894. 

543 

.do. 

Do 

1897. 

i 605 

Magnesite, crude or calcined, not purified. 

Do 

1909. 

618 

.do. .*. 

Do 

1913. 

539 

.do. 

Do. 





1 As passed by the House of Representatives the provision read: “Magnesite, or native mineral carbonate 
of magnesia, all not medicinal.” The change of the wording as enacted was made in the Senate. 


Summary table. 


Calendar year. 

Domestic 

production 

(short 

tons). 

Imports 
for con¬ 
sumption 
(short 
tons). 1 

Domestic 

exports. 

Ratio of 
imports to 
domestic 
produr tion 
(per cent). 

Value (imports 
for consump¬ 
tion). 1 

Value per 
unit of 
quantity. 2 

1910. 

12,443 
9,375 
10,512 
9,632 
11,293 
30,499 
154,974 
316,838 
231, 605 

323,654 
257,124 
268,408 
347, 426 
256,987 
102,913 
93,885 
38,208 
43, 531 

None 

2,610 

2,740 

2,550 

4,020 

2,280 

337 

61 

12 

19 

$1,542,800.00 
1,185,867.00 
1,369,665.00 
1,757,476 00 
1,377,772.00 
647,211 00 
838,630 00 
461,706 00 
927, 255 00 

86.25 
5.86 
5.83 
6 40 
4.10 
5 12 
8.42 
7.66 
21.30 

1911. 

...do. 

1912 . 

1913 . 

.. .do.. 

...do . 

1914.!. 

...do.. 

1915 . 

do 

1916. 

do 

1917. 

do 

1918. 

do 




1 Quantity of imports of calcined have been doubled (assuming a 50 per cent loss in weight because of 
the caPining operation) and added to quantity of crude. Values of calcined simply added to those of 
•crude in this table. 


2 Based on imports ofcrudo only. 





































































MAGNESITE INDUSTRY. 


27 


COURT AND TREASURY DECISIONS. 

In a decision in 1876, ground magnesite, or native carbonate of 
magnesia, composed of magnesia 47.6 and carbonic acid 52.4, was 
classified as carbonate of magnesia, although differing in some re¬ 
spects from the more common article known by that name. (Dept. 
Order, T. D. 2875.) 

Calcined magnesite, declared to have all the characteristic prop¬ 
erties of cement and to be used as a mortar in cementing magnesite 
bricks, was classified as cement under the act of 1883. (T. D. 9375.) 

An importation described as “ calcined magnesite, or magnesite 
which has been reduced to pulverization by heat and then ground." 
and chiefly used as a cement for lining furnaces, was held not within 
the provision in the act of 1894 for “magnesite, or native mineral 
carbonate of magnesia,” nor gypsum ground or calcined, but dutiable 
as cement other than Roman, Portland, or hydraulic. (G. A. 3370, 
T. D. 16851.) 

A similar importation was classified as cement by the customs of¬ 
ficers under the act of 1897, but the Board of General Appraisers 
held it exempt from duty as “ magnesite, crude or calcined, not puri¬ 
fied,” a broader provision than that in the former law. (G. A. 5003, 
T. D. 23316.) 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


Mineral Industry. Annual. 

Mineral Resources: United States Geological Survey. Annual. 

Political and Commercial Control of tlie Mineral Resources of the World No. 3. 

Confidential Report on Magnesite. Copy in the U. S. Tariff Commission file. 
Commerce and Navigation of the United States. Annual. 

Magnesite in 1917. Reports and Data collected by F. B. Hyder for Northwest 
Magnesite Co. Copy in U. S. Tariff Commission file. 

Hess, F. L., Magnesite deposits of California, U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 355, 
67 pp., 1908. 

■Gale, H. S., Late developments of magnesite deposits in California and Nevada, 
Bull. 540, pp. 483-520, 1913. 

•Gale, H. S., Magnesite. U. S. Geol. Survey Mineral Resources, 1911. 

Yale, C. G., and Gale, H. S., Magnesite, U. S. Geol. Survey Mineral Resources, 


1912-1916. 

Yale, C. G., and Stone, R. W., Magnesite, U. S. Geol. Survey Mineral Resources, 
1917. 

■Gale, H. S., Our mineral supplies, magnesite: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 666-BB. 
3 pp., 1917. 

Stone, R. W., Magnesite deposits of Washington, Eng. & Min. Journal, April 
13, 1918. 

Wilson, M. E., Magnesite deposits of Grenville district, Quebec; Canada, Dept, 
of Mines, Memoir 98, 88 pp., 1917. 

Describes Grenville deposits fully and mentions foreign sources and uses 
of magnesite. 

Morganroth, L. C., The occurrence, preparation, and use of magnesite: Am. 

Inst. Min. Eng. Trans., October, 1914, Vol. L, pp. 890-900, 1915. 

Gale, W. H., Magnesite mines of Greece: Daily Cons, and Trade Repts., 1914, 
pp. 1239-1241, June 2, 1914. 

Describes briefly the occurrence of magnesite on the island of Euboea. 
Some of these veins attain a thickness of 50 to 60 feet. 

The output for 1912 of the several corporations mining magnesite is given. 
Anon Austrian magnesite developed by American capital: Brick and Clay 
Record, Sept. 1, 1914, pp. 474-475 (illust.) 

Anon., An Austrian magnesite property developed by American capital (illust.) : 
Iron Trade Review, Oct. 22, 1914, pp. 772-773. 


28 


MAGNESITE INDUSTRY. 


Frechette, Howells, The Magnesite Industry of Quebec. Can. Min. Jour., 
Mar. 1, 1918. 

Gosrow, R. C., Refractory Magnesia. Met. Chem. Eng., Oct. 1, 1917. 

Hill, H. A., Magnesite Trade Affected by War Conditions. Comm. Rept., Mar. 
8, 1917. 

Hudson, Clough D., Washington Magnesite Industry. Eng. Min. Jour., Sept. 
29, 3917. 

Stone, R. W., Magnesite Deposits of Washington. Eng. Min. Jour., April 13, 
1918. 


-. Magnesite in Stevens County, Washington. TJ. S. Geol. Surv, 

Bull., Oct. 25, 1917. 

-. Magnesite as a War Mineral. l T . S. Geol. Surv. Press Bull., 

16, 1918. 

-. Magnesite on the Pacific Coast. Min. Sci. Press, Aug. 31, 3917. 

-. Magnesite in 1917. Eng. Min. Jour., Jan. 12, 3918. 


Press 


Jan. 


LIST OF PRODUCERS IN 1 !> 1 S AND CHARACTER OF PRODUCT. 

California: 

Piedra Magnesite Co., Fresno (calcined). 

.1. H. Plattner, Livermore (crude). 

Sinclair Bros. & Ferguson, Piedra (calcined). 

Bay Cities Water Co., Coyote (crude). 

Western Magnesite Development Co., 539 California Street, San Francisco 
(crude and calcined). 

Gustine Magnesite Co., Ingomar (crude). 

Red Mountain Magnesite Co., Marine Building, San Francisco (crude and 
calcined). 

Standard Magnesite Co. of California, 244 California Street, San Francisco 
(crude). 

E. Duryee, 3205 Hollingsworth Building, Los Angeles (crude). 

H. T. Haden, Dinuba (crude). 

Oakland Magnesite Co., Realty Syndicate Building, Oakland (crude). 
Harker Magnesite Co., Guerneville (calcined). 

Fred Leighton, Cloverdale (crude). 

Nic-helini & McKenzie, Chiles (crude). 

.1. D. Hoff Asbestos Co., Monadnock Building, San Francisco (calcined). 

R. Schiffman, Pasadena (crude). 

C. G. Goblin, St. Helena (crude). 

Hugo Fischl, Hollister (crude). 

H. Sherlock, Madrone (crude). 

The following were believed to be operating at the end of 3918: 

• Frank R. Sweasy (White Rock mine), Humboldt Bank Building, San 
Francisco (crude and calcined). 

Wellman-Lewis, 903 Hibernian Building, Los Angeles (crude and calcined). 
Sonoma Magnesite Co., Humboldt Bank Building, San Francisco (crude and 
calcined). 

Tulare Mining Co., 310 Sansome Street, San Francisco (crude and cal¬ 
cined). 

Porterville Magnesite Co. of California, Porterville (crude and calcined). 
Washington: 

American Mineral Production Co., 622 Insurance Exchange Building, Chi¬ 
cago, Ill. 

Northwest Magnesite Co., Hutton Building, Spokane. 

(Both these companies are operating—February, 1919—and produce 
both crude and calcined.) 


o 










